Rights Holder: Somerset County Council
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Unique ID: SOM-81B00C
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published
Treasure reference number 2017 T205: Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, hope to acquire
Circumstances: Found while searching with a metal detector on grassland. The majority of copper alloy fragments were found closely associated or together with the largest fragment (13) slightly further away (finders estimate 20m) and the gold bracelets together around two metres from the rest of the concentration. Two further fragments are thought to be lead-tin alloy and may relate to Post Medieval material found in the area rather than the hoards although tin beads are known from Devon hoards of the Bronze Age.
Danielle Wootten (former Devon FLO) arranged re-excavation of the findspot and was able to establish the detectorists excavation holes. She confirmed (pers. comm.) the entire hoard had been retrieved and that the site appears to have been a boggy area with no obvious 'pits' in which the hoard (or hoards) were deposited and no other features associated with the hoard(s). The full report is awaited.
Description: One or two hoards which may be associated and indeed have been deposited at the same time or separate times as part of an ongoing activity at the same site. One consists of copper alloy objects, the other of four gold bracelets.
The group of copper alloy objects consists of:
The group of gold consists of:
Metal composition of the gold bracelets (object nos. 15-18): Non-destructive X-ray fluorescence analysis of the metal of the four bracelets at the British Museum indicated a surface composition of approximately 79-83% gold, 13-17% silver and at least 3-5% copper. See appended report for details.
Discussion:
The copper alloy element of the hoard finds close parallels among 'scrap' hoards of the Late Bronze Age in Southern England.
The hoard contains a mixture of deliberately and possibly accidentally broken objects and ingots.
The four bracelets in this hoard are highly constant in their form and modification by bending. The one example bent further may be accidental, probably at the time of deposition. Very similar gold strip bracelets are known from across Southern England including two from the relatively close by Colaton Raleigh Hoard (Taylor 1999) found 1986 and dated to c. 1000-650 BC, Treasure case 2009 T393 from Calborne on the Isle of Wight dated 1000-750 AD (Basford and Roberts 2009), examples from Tisbury, Wiltshire and Morvah, Cornwall (both Taylor 1980 pl 52e and 52d) and two in a hoard from Bexley Heath, Kent (Taylor 1999 pl.10).
This hoard varies from the Colaton Raleigh and Bexley Heath hoards in having only one form of bracelet. It also varies in having the associated, spatially, and possibly chronologically, copper alloy hoard.
Date: Late Bronze Age
Conclusion: The prehistoric date and precious metal content of this find qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996 (Designation Order 2002).
Author: Laura Burnett, Finds Liaison Officer for Somerset
Date: 11/04/2017
Checked: Neil Wilkin, Curator, British Museum
References
Basford, F and Roberts, B.(2009) "IOW-8BBE91: A BRONZE AGE BRACELET" Web page available at: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/262830 [Accessed: 11 Apr 2017 17:04:06]
Taylor, J. 1980, Bronze Age Goldwork in the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres
Taylor, J. 1999. 'The Colaton Raleigh gold bracelet hoard and its significance to the interpretation of the later Bronze Age' in Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings 57 pp.205-218.
Subsequent action after recording: Submitted for consideration as Treasure
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
Subperiod from: Late
Period from: BRONZE AGE
Subperiod to: Late
Period to: BRONZE AGE
Date from: Circa 1000 BC
Date to: Circa 750 BC
Quantity: 18
Date(s) of discovery: Monday 13th February 2017 - Monday 13th February 2017
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Primary material: Copper alloy
Secondary material: Gold
Completeness: Fragment
Grid reference source: Generated from computer mapping software
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Taylor, J.J. | 1981 | Bronze Age Goldwork of the British Isles | Cambridge | Cambridge University Press |